Sam Servellon

Sam Servellon (they/them)

Doctoral Student | Learning Design & Technology

Project Overview

This auto-ethnography documents my journey of deconstructing colonial thoughts and frameworks embedded in my teaching practice and daily life. Using technology—both digital and analog—as tools to examine, document, and transform my praxis, I am constructing a liberation and equity framework that centers marginalized voices and challenges oppressive systems.

My hope is that this documented pathway can be useful for teachers developing liberatory instruction and for other educators and students beginning similar journeys toward conscientização.

Key Themes

  • Deconstruction: Identifying and naming colonial frameworks in teaching (e.g., ADDIE, Backwards Design, banking education)
  • Technology as Tool: Using digital and analog tools (website, heatmaps, mind maps) to document the transformation process
  • Reconstruction: Building toward liberatory approaches (Critical Fabulations, Rasquachismo, culturally responsive pedagogy)
  • Pathway Creation: Making this journey replicable and participatory for other educators

Related Artifacts & Resources

Pedagogical Profile Heatmap

Visual representation of my movement from colonial frameworks toward liberatory design approaches across six critical dimensions.

View Heatmap

Teaching Philosophy

My evolving philosophy centering liberation, critical consciousness, and technology as democratizing force.

Read Philosophy

Course Reflections

Weekly synthesis documents tracing my engagement with learning theories through a Freirean lens.

View Course Work

Educational Lens Activity

Interactive tool for identifying philosophical commitments and design framework alignments.

Explore Activity

Project Presentation

5-slide deck outlining the auto-ethnographic project, theoretical framework, and pathways for others

Next Steps

This project is in development. I am currently seeking:

  • Auto-ethnography methodology sources specific to decolonization journeys
  • Frameworks for documenting movement from colonial to liberatory pedagogy
  • Strategies for creating participatory spaces where other educators can document their journeys
  • Feedback on how to make decolonization tangible rather than abstract for educators